LONDON • Frank Lampard accused his Chelsea side of complacency after slipping to a 2-1 FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal on Saturday.

The Blues made the perfect start after Christian Pulisic fired them ahead just five minutes in.

But Arsenal stepped up a gear after the early blow, with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalising from the penalty spot before half-time, then making it 2-1 with a fine finish after the interval.

Chelsea tried to pull level, but were hampered by a lack of cutting edge, while their defensive frailties - a consistent theme throughout the season - proved to be their undoing at Wembley.

They were not helped by the extremely harsh second-half dismissal of Mateo Kovacic for a second yellow card, on top of injuries to Pulisic, Cesar Azpilicueta and substitute Pedro, although Lampard refused to make excuses.

"We started well for 10 or 15 minutes, scored a goal and had other chances," he told the BBC. "From that point, we can only blame ourselves in football terms.

"We decided to take control as in being complacent, let's try and play short passes like it is a bit of a stroll. A final can never be a stroll and we allowed them back into the game."

Lampard, who was aiming for his first trophy as a manager, had tried to get his players to refocus, but was unable to get his message across to his side.

"All I can do from the sidelines is shout. There are elements in our game that we have worked hard on all year, but that is in you as a group," the 42-year-old former midfielder said.

"We were slow, we played back on ourselves, invited pressure, then didn't really know where to go from that. We didn't play well enough to win a final.

"It doesn't help to have two hamstrings and a dislocated shoulder, then Willian got injured yesterday and had to pull out.

"It's the end of a long, long season and it was the tipping point for us."

Despite their Cup final misery, Chelsea have achieved their main aim by qualifying for next season's Champions League via a fourth-placed English Premier League finish.

Their campaign is not over as they travel to Bayern Munich on Saturday for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

It will, however, be an uphill task for the Blues at the home of the German champions, who lead 3-0 from the first leg.

Both Pulisic and Azpilicueta will miss that clash, while Pedro has joined Roma following the Cup's conclusion.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE